Sinn Fein is a major force in Northern Ireland, which is part of the U.K., but has long been a minor political player in the Republic.

Archbishop Martin joined with other church leaders in welcoming the new deal as "a balanced accommodation that is focused on the common good."

Ireland will violate the concept of the common good if it meets its energy needs through the contamination of water on the other side of the Atlantic, writes Ciara Murphy of the Jesuit Center for Faith and Justice.

On Nov. 22, 16 migrants were found concealed in a truck on board a ferry from France to Ireland

“Faith is the heart of the pilgrim, every pilgrim, the pilgrim’s modus operandi. Faith is our yes to what we know; but even more, it is our yes to what we don’t know—to all that is to come,” writes Matt Malone, S.J., in a homily he delivered in Ireland.

Kevin Spinale, S.J., the moderator of the Catholic Book Club, led discussions of two very different books this spring and summer. The first, 'Catholic Modern,' by James Chappel, is a heady look at how the church remade itself at a time of social and political upheaval. The second, 'Say Nothing,' by Patrick Radden Keefe, is a gripping account of some of the key players in the period in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles.